Building foundation with frost deflector

ABSTRACT

A building foundation that comprises a deflector so that frost which may accumulate under the building will be deflected. This prevents the frost from raising the foundation off the ground.

United States Patent Sherno [54] BUILDING FOUNDATION WITH FROSTDEFLECTOR [72] Inventor: Stanley A. Sherno, Cresco, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Stanley A. Sherno, Cresco, Pa.

[22] Filed: March 16, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 19,607

[52] US. Cl ..52/169, 52/292 [51] Int. Cl. ..E02d 27/34 [58] Field ofSearch ..52/169, 294,515,516, 292, 52/480, 309

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,298,184 1942 Von Rosenberg..52/ 167 2,899,771 1959 Burris ..52/169 2,221,193 1940 Kastner ..52/1673,416,270 1968 McHugh ..52/292 1,745,171 1930 Kocher ..52/480 3,423,2641969 Miron ..52/309 Sept. 5, 1972 1,343,234 1920 Stevens ..52/4801,747,340 1930 Wallin ..52/480 3,260,025 1966 Van Der Lely .52/2742,743,602 1956 Dunn ..52/169 3,250,188 1966 Leonards ..52/408 3,516,8946/1970 Slosberg ..52/309 3,561,175 2/1971 Best et al. ..52/169 3,581,7791/1971 Sylvia, Jr. ..52/309 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 703,753 1954Great Britain ..52/480 1,021,362 1966 Great Britain .52/292 PrimaryExaminerHenry C. Sutherland Assistant Examiner-Leslie A. BraunAttorneyStephens, Davis, Miller & Mosher [57] ABSTRACT A buildingfoundation that comprises a deflector so that frost which may accumulateunder the building will be deflected. This prevents the frost fromraising the foundation off the ground.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEU SEP 5 I972 3.6 88,457

72 a 68 INVENTOR SMNL 67 A. SHER/VO ATTORNEYS.

BUILDING FOUNDATION WITH FROST DEFLECTOR This invention relates to abuilding foundation and more particularly to a foundation for aninexpensive building or mobile home which does not change its elevationwhen subjected to upwardly directed forces caused by ground frost.

A substantial part of the cost of building a house goes into thepreparation of the foundation. Since the foundation will normallysupport the entire weight of the house, it is generally made of concreteor the like and is quite strong. Additionally, in order for it not to beaffected by frost, which might move it relative to the ground, it isnormally prepared in such a way that it extends down below the frostline of the soil. By doing this, the upwardly directed force which isnormally exerted against the foundation by frost is avoided.

However, it has been recognized that in order to produce low costhousing, a technique for avoiding the costly and time-consumingprocedures of installing a foundation have to be abandoned. But, iftraditional type building foundations are not utilized, then over theyears, repeated changes in the temperature of the soil due to the annualcycle would ultimately destroy any building set on a foundationstructure that did not go below the frost line.

Mobile homes have become increasingly popular as an alternative toexpensive housing. However, there is considerable expense associatedwith the initial purchase of a mobile home. Hence, it is necessary topurchase a special rig for transporting the mobile home. Also, specialstairs must be provided for entering the raised mobile home. The stairsare not only expensive but also may present a safety hazard. Raisedmobile homes are also subject to wind factors which present problemswhich include increasing heating costs and creating instability of thestructure.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an inexpensivebuilding foundation that can be used in construction of low costhousing.

It is another object of this invention to provide a building foundationthat rests on the surface of the ground but does not move vertically inresponse to upwardly directed forces caused by frost accumulation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a buildingfoundation that causes frost accumulations under the foundation to bemoved laterally thereof.

lt is another object of the present invention to provide a foundationwhich can be incorporated on a mobile home to permit the mobile home tobecome affixed to the ground and thus obviate many problems attendant tothe use of mobile housing.

Generally, the invention relates to a building foundation that resiststhe upwardly directed forces caused by ground frost. It comprises meansdefining a perimeter of a building. A frost deflector which is connectedto the means comprises a member having at least one surface for engagingthe ground along the perimeter. The surface is fixed at an angle that isin the range between substantially 45 upward from the horizontal andsubstantially vertical so that the upward directed frost is directedlaterally of the foundation.

The frost deflector of the present invention may be secured to a mobilehome to permit the mobile house to be made stationary. The house couldbe made mobile again by raising the same and placing the house on atransporting ring. When the frost deflector is provided on a mobilehome, the home can be delivered to a specific location. The home can belowered into place and the wind factor will not present any specialproblems. Special stairs will not have to be purchased and a transportrig may be rented for a single use wherein the expense of buying suchrig will not have to be borne by the purchaser of the mobile home.Hence, by the use of the present invention, a mobile home can beconverted into a permanent home resting upon the ground and reconvertedinto a mobile home.

Other objects and advantages of the subject invention will becomeapparent from a detailed discussion thereof which follows wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a building constructed in accordancewith a preferred form of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of a building constructed inaccordance with FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a close-up view of a portion of the building foundationillustrated in FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a typical low cost building10 that includes an intermediate support structure 12, which is carriedby a foundation constructed in accordance with a preferred form of theinvention.

The intermediate support structure may have a plurality of generallyparallel members 16 that rest upon foundation members 18. In addition tothe parallel member 16, transverse member 20 may also be employed sothat the foundation members 18 support the entire perimeter of thebuilding 10.

Each of the parallel and transverse members 16 and 20 has asubstantially flat bottom surface 22 for bearing contact with one of thefoundation members 18.

Each of the foundation members comprises elongated beams 24 and a forcedeflector 25. Preferably the beams 24 are comprised of steel and haveupper and lower flanges 30 and 32 that are connected by a web 34. Theupper flange 30 has a flat upper surface 26 for mating contact with flatbottom surface 22, while the lower web 32 carries the frost deflector 25While C-shaped sections have been illustrated for the purposes ofdescribing the invention, it is to be understood that otherconfigurations such as I beams, H beams, channels or the like would besuitable in achieving the objects of this invention.

Each upper flange 30 may be connected to one of the members in theintennediate support structure 12 by suitable fasteners such as nuts andbolts 36.

The frost deflector may be welded to lower flange 32. However, it isapparent that it could be fastened to it by other means or, if desired,could be formed integrally with the web 34.

Referring now to FIG. 3 where an enlarged view of a portion of thefoundation member 18 is illustrated, it is seen that the frost deflector25 rests on a plurality of flexible sheets made from plastic materials.A first flexible plastic sheet which covers the entire area defined bythe building perimeter is placed on a lot that has been graded to adesired profile. This plastic material may be comprised of a suitableflexible plastic material such as polyethylene or polypropylene. Otherflexible plastic materials could also be utilized. Supported immediatelyon top of sheet 50 are a plurality of smaller sheets 52, 54 and S6 ofsimilar flexible plastic material. Each of these second sheets isslightly wider than the flanges on each of the elongated members 24 butis the same length as each of those members. The space 68 between eachof the sheets at each of the members is filled with a suitable viscousliquid such as a lubricant. Preferably, these viscous liquids shouldhave a silicone base.

Interposed between the bottom surface 70 of the bottom flange of each ofthe elongated members 24 and the plastic sheets 52, 54 and 56 is one ofthe abovementioned frost deflectors. In a preferred form of theinvention, they may be of V shape having opposed inwardly directed anddownwardly converging side surfaces 72 and 74. The frost deflectors arecontinuous around the entire perimeter of the building.

It is to be observed that moisture and water in the soil, when frozen,will turn to frost and exert an upward pressure on the foundationtending to raise it off the ground. However, the frost will encounterthe angled surfaces of sheet 50. Since they are made of a substantiallyfrictionless material the frost will be forced upwardly and outwardly toeither side of the Vs. Thus, it is important that these surfaces lie ina range that is between substantially vertical and 45 upward from thehorizontal so that the frost will slide past the sheet 50.

The viscous liquid under each of the force deflectors 25 permitsrelative movement between the plastic sheet 50 and each of the plasticsheets 52, S4 and 56 to facilitate movement of the frost.

By the above discussion it is apparent that many other configurationsfor the force deflectors 25 could be provided and it is the intention ofthis invention to include all of those configurations. For example, sucha configuration could be wedge-shaped or merely a sloped surface. Theutilization of a non-symmetrical device under the foundation would notcause the building to shift laterally since the upwardly directed forceapplied to one of the non-symmetrical faces on the frost deflector wouldbe compensated by a similar force being applied to all points on theperimeter. Thus, the forces being applied around the perimeter balanceeach other out preventing lateral movement.

Additionally, if desired, the ground on which the foundation is to belaid can first be rough-graded so that it is substantially flat and thensand 80 can be utilized to prepare a bed on which the plastic sheets 50,52, 54 and 56 are to be laid. Thus, what has been described is a simple,inexpensive foundation for a low cost building that has a minimum upwardmovement in response to the upwardly directed force occurring when theground freezes.

While the invention has been described with reference to a particularembodiment of a building foundation, it is apparent that many otherembodiments of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in theart in light of the foregoing disclosure.

Accordingly, in the preferred embodiment, the sheet 50 may beapproximately 42 inches while the sheets 52, 54 and 56 may beapproximately 8 inches wide. Sheets 52 and 56 may be combined into asingle sheet which extends around the entire periphery of the buildingperimeter.

The frost deflector under the beam 24 in the center of the building maybe eliminated if there is sufficient heat in the crawl space under thefloor 82 of the building to prevent formation of frost thereat.

Furthermore, the sheets 50, 52, 54 and 56 may be eliminated andlubricant applied directly to the outer exposed surfaces of the frostdeflectors. However, it is believed that maximum effectiveness isachieved by providing said sheets.

When the frost deflector is to be secured to a mobile home, thelubricant is preferably applied to the outer exposed surface thereof.However, if desired, the plastic sheets and lubricant can be supplied tothe purchaser of the mobile home in kit form with explicit instructionsregarding the use of such sheets in cooperation with the frostdeflector.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and,accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, ratherthan to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of theinvention.

We claim:

1. A frame assembly supporting a building on the gtound whilesubstantially negating any upwardly directed normally disruptive forceoccasioned by frost in the underlying support comprising:

a plurality of interconnected members defining a perimeter of abuilding, each member having a lower surface with a downwardlyconverging V- shaped portion projecting downwardly therefrom with thetop of the V-shaped portion being narrower than said lower surface ofthe member to define a bearing surface on either side of the V- shapedportion, the side surfaces of the V-shaped portion lying betweensubstantially 45 upward from the horizontal and substantially vertical,a friction reducing material between said V-shaped portion and theground, so that upwardly moving frost in the ground is directedlaterally of the foundation.

2. The assembly of claim 1 in which the friction reducing material is alayer of plastic material.

3. The assembly of claim 1 in which the friction reducing material istwo layers of plastic material.

4. A frame assembly supporting a building on the earth whilesubstantially negating any upwardly directed normally disruptive forceoccasioned by frost in the underlying support comprising:

a plurality of interconnected metallic channel members defining aperimeter of a building, each member having a lower surface with adownwardly converging metallic V-shaped portion secured thereto andprojecting downwardly therefrom with the top of the V-shaped portionbeing narrower than said lower surface of the member, bearing surfacemeans on each side of the V-shaped portion defined by the lower surfaceof the member left exposed by the narrower V-shaped portion, the sidesurface of the V-shaped portion lying between substantially 45 upwardfrom the horizontal and substantially vertical so that upwardly movingfrost in the earth is directed laterally of the foundation.

5. The assembly of claim 4 including a friction reducing material belowsaid V-shaped portion.

6. The assembly of claim 5 in which the friction reducing material is alayer of plastic material.

7. The assembly of claim 4 including a first and second layers ofplastic material below said V-shaped portion.

1. A frame assembly supporting a building on the gtound whilesubstantially negating any upwardly directed normally disruptive forceoccasioned by frost in the underlying support comprising: a plurality ofinterconnected members defining a perimeter of a building, each memberhaving a lower surface with a downwardly converging V-shaped portionprojecting downwardly therefrom with the top of the V-shaped portionbeing narrower than said lower surface of the member to define a bearingsurface on either side of the V-shaped portion, the side surfaces of theV-shaped portion lying between substantially 45* upward from thehorizontal and substantially vertical, a friction reducing materialbetween said V-shaped portion and the ground, so that upwardly movingfrost in the ground is directed laterally of the foundation.
 2. Theassembly of claim 1 in which the friction reducing material is a layerof plastic material.
 3. The assembly of claim 1 in which the frictionreducing material is two layers of plastic material.
 4. A frame assemblysupporting a building on the earth while substantially negating anyupwardly directed normally disruptive force occasioned by frost in theunderlying support comprising: a plurality of interconnected metallicchannel members defining a perimeter of a building, each member having alower surface with a downwardly converging metallic V-shaped portionsecured thereto and projecting downwardly therefrom with the top of theV-shaped portion being narrower than said lower surface of the member,bearing surface means on each side of the V-shaped portion defined bythe lower surface of the member left exposed by the narrower V-shapedportion, the side surface of the V-shaped portion lying betweensubstantially 45* upward from the horizontal and substantially verticalso that upwardly moving frost in the earth is directed laterally of thefoundation.
 5. The assembly of claim 4 including a friction reducingmaterial below said V-shaped portion.
 6. The assembly of claim 5 inwhich the friction reducing material is a layer of plastic material. 7.The assembly of claim 4 including a first and second layers of plasticmaterial below said V-shaped portion.